Speakers

Keynote Speakers

Arminio FragaFounding Partner, Gavea Investimentos

Arminio Fraga is the founding partner at Gavea Investimentos, an investment management firm he founded in August 2003, based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Fraga was the chairman of the board of BM&F Bovespa, Brazil’s securities, commodities and derivatives exchange, from April 2009 to April 2013, and was the president of the Central Bank of Brazil from March 1999 to December 2002. From 1993 until his appointment as governor of the Central Bank, he was managing director of Soros Fund Management in New York. From 1991 to 1992, he was the director responsible for international affairs at the Central Bank of Brazil. Earlier in his career, he held positions with Salomon Brothers and Garantia Investment Bank. Fraga has taught at the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, the Graduate School of Economics at Getulio Vargas Foundation, the School of International Affairs at Columbia University, and the Wharton School. He is a trustee of Princeton University, and a member of the Group of Thirty and of the Council on Foreign Relations, and serves on the boards of several NGOs. Fraga has been published widely in the areas of international finance, macroeconomics, and monetary policy. Fraga earned his PhD in economics from Princeton University in 1985, and his BA/MA in economics from the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro in 1981.

Juan José EchavarríaGovernor, Central Bank of Colombia

Juan José Echavarría graduated as an engineer from the Escuela de Minas de Medellín. He studied business and economics at Harvard University, and he holds a master's degree in economics from Boston University and a PhD in economics from Oxford University. He has served in various positions in the public and private sectors, among others as director of the United Nations Mission to restructure the coffee sector in Colombia; member of the board of directors of Banco de la República; executive director at FEDESARROLLO; minister plenipotentiary at the Colombian Mission to the OAS; deputy minister of foreign trade; and economic research director at the Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC). In the academic field, Echavarría has served as associate professor at Universidad del Rosario, and as dean of the Faculty of Economic Sciences at Universidad Nacional de Colombia. In January 2017, Echavarría took office as governor of the Central Bank of Colombia.

Armando SenraHead of Latin America and Iberia Region, BlackRock, Inc.

Armando Senra began his career in 1994 at Merrill Lynch in the US, taking on a number of roles across the firm in both NYC and Princeton. He joined Merrill Lynch Investment Managers in 1997, which merged with BlackRock in 2006. In 1998 he became MLIM's Head of Sales for ML Global Wealth Management in EMEA, based in London. From 2000 to 2003, he was Director of MLIM's Private Investors Business in Iberia based in Madrid. From 2003 to 2008, Mr. Senra headed MLIM's International Global Wealth Management Business based out of London, leading teams located in EMEA, Asia, US, and Latin America. In 2008, he became the Head of BlackRock's Latin America and Iberia region. .

Alejandro WernerDirector of the Western Hemisphere Department, International Monetary Fund

Alejandro Werner is the director of the Western Hemisphere Department of the International Monetary Fund. Previously, he served as the head of corporate and investment banking at BBVA Bancomer, undersecretary and head of economic planning at Mexico’s Finance and Public Credit Secretariat, and director of economic studies at the Central Bank of Mexico. Werner has taught economics courses at the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid and at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). He was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2007. Werner holds a bachelor’s in economics from ITAM and obtained his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Panelists

Daniel VogelCo-founder and CEO, Bitso

Daniel Vogel is among the youngest entrepreneurs and leaders of technological innovation in Mexico. Motivated by a sense of social responsibility, Bitso is committed to the development of efficient, competitive, accessible and inclusive financial services in Mexico and Latin America. Daniel holds two degrees from Stanford University (BA in Economics, BS in Computer Systems Engineering) and a Master's degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard Business School. During his academic career, he presided various student societies such as the Society for Entrepreneurship in Latin America, the Bitcoin Club, the LatAm Club, the Aviation and Aerospace Club, among others. At Stanford he was elected by his colleagues to be a member of the Class Cabinet. Daniel has not only demonstrated his entrepreneurial side, but he has also shown his innovative skills. During his time residing in Silicon Valley he worked for Quantcast, where he developed a real-time bidding system, a product that would later go on to become the company's main source of income. On November 2016, he was included in "Innovators under 35 Mexico 2016", an award from MIT Technology Review. His work at Bitso has been recognized by Endeavor (Global Endeavor Entrepreneur), MassChallenge (2016 Gold Winner), the President of Mexico (Digital Leader Mexico), among others.

Pierpaolo BarbieriFounder and CEO, Ualá

Pierpaolo Barbieri grew up in Buenos Aires. He studied at Harvard University, where he graduated magna cum laude and his thesis received the Thomas P. Hoopes Prize '14, and in Cambridge, where he was Henry Fiske III Harvard-Cambridge Scholar and obtained his postgraduate in history and economics. He is a researcher of the Harvard Government Kennedy School. His first book, Hitler’s Shadow, was published by Harvard in the United States and the United Kingdom, by Penguin Random House in Spain and Latin America, by Mondadori in Italy and Citic in China. His articles have been published by El País in Spain, Foreign Affairs, New York Times,Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, CNN, New Republic, Weekly Standard, Profile, Clarín, and La Nación. He is also the executive director of Greenmantle, a geopolitical and macroeconomic consultancy based in New York. Barbieri was a partner of the Brevan Howard Argentina fund, at the time the largest investment dedicated to Argentina

Bernardo NovickHead, ZX Ventures

Bernardo Novick is currently the Head of ZX Ventures of Anheuser-Busch InBev with the intention of making products, services, and technologies that provide solutions for consumer needs. Bernardo started his career at Ambev Brewery in 2009 as a Commodities Manager. Later on, he led the Finance and Operations as the Caribbean Manager, acted as Sales Regional Director and was assigned to be Vice-President of Client Services before moving to ZX Ventures. Mr. Novick holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

MarioFernandez is the Head of Latin American Energy Principal Investments at Macquarie Capital. He has over 10 years of experience in project development, structuring, and financing. His most recent experience includes, successfully leading the restructuring, acquisition, and financing for the Norte III CCGT plant in Mexico. Having raised both equity and US$700m+ in project financing from 10 international financial institutions for the project. Previously, he was the CFO for Trafigura’s US$900m+ Colombia Fluvial Logistics System project, leading the structuring and financing of $450m of fluvial equipment for the project. Mario led and structured the financing with the participation of 12 international, regional and local banks.

Elicia LingPartner, Paul Hastings

Elicia Ling is a partner in the Latin America practice and the energy and infrastructure practice at Paul Hastings. She is based in the firm’s New York office. Ling has represented sponsors and lenders in a number of financing and infrastructure development transactions throughout Latin America. Her experience encompasses a wide range of sectors, including power, oil and gas, mining, infrastructure, shipping, and agricultural commodities.

Stuart MurrayManaging Director and Head of Americas Project Finance, Citi

Stuart Murray is a Director in Citigroup’s Project & Infrastructure Finance group and has 15 years experience in structured finance, with a focus on power, energy, and renewable energy transactions and clients. Prior to joining Citi’s Infrastructure & Energy Finance group, Mr. Murray was a banker in Citi’s Power & Utilities group, managing a portfolio of North American power & utility clients. Prior to joining Citi, Mr. Murray was the Director of Corporate Finance at The AES Corporation, the global independent power producer based in Arlington, Virginia. Before joining AES, Mr. Murray was a Vice President in Leveraged Finance at JPMorgan Chase & Co., working out of JPMorgan’s New York and London offices where he executed non-investment-grade financings in the leveraged loan and high yield bond markets. Mr. Murray received a BA from Hamilton College in Clinton, New York and an MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth College, where he was named an Edward Tuck Scholar.

Moderators

Susan SegalPresident and CEO, Americas Society/Council of the Americas

Susan Segal was elected president and CEO of the Americas Society and Council of the Americas in August 2003 after working in the private sector with Latin America and other emerging markets for over 30 years. A passionate supporter of Latin America, she joined the organizations to implement a new strategic plan to renew and return the Society and Council to their historic position. Prior to her current position, she was a founding partner of her own investment and advisory group focused primarily on Latin America and the U.S. Hispanic sector.

Paulo Passoni, Founder and CIO, 30 Knots Capital

Paulo Passoni is Founder of 30 Knots Capital, an expansion and growth capital provider to companies in Latin America, investing in private rounds, IPOs, and publicly listed companies. Prior to 30 Knots Capital, Mr. Passoni served as Managing Director and Analyst at Third Point LLC, focused on Latin America investments. Prior to this, Mr. Passoni was employed at Eton Park Capital Management, L.P. Previously, he was an Analyst in the mergers and acquisitions Group of Morgan Stanley in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Mr. Passoni received an MBA from Harvard Business School as a Baker Scholar, and also holds an MPA from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Jennifer P. RoigSenior Reporter, Inframation News

Jennifer P. Roig is senior reporter at Inframation News. She covers project finance deals across Spanish speaking Latin America for Inframation News, which focuses on private investment in infrastructure at a global level, and is in constant contact with financiers, advisors, and developers active in the infrastructure development market of the region. Roig previously worked for LatinFinance, covering project finance and corporate loans, and local bonds in the Andean debt capital markets. She has a master's from the Erasmus Mundus Journalism & Media Program within Globalization, and with a European perspective.

Paul KilbyDeputy US Credit Editor, IFR Refinitiv

Paul Kilby works at Refinitiv where he runs the Latin America desk and is Deputy US Credit Editor for International Financing Review's real-time, daily and weekly products, coordinating coverage of bonds, loans, equity, corporate and sovereign debt, restructuring as well as secondary market trading. He has over 10 years of experience covering finance in Latin America. Prior to joining IFR, he worked as Editor for LatinFinance.